Jane put on a look of pretended innocence. “Forgive me for thinking otherwise. Mama simply thought that Uncle Gardiner must have arranged the match. None of us would have expected Lizzy to marry well and certainly not to a man like you. With her looks …” she trailed off, fluttering her eyelashes at Darcy.
Darcy was displeased to have to defend his wife to this spiteful woman. "My wife is beautiful. Surely you would not imply anything else. I first met Elizabeth when she was fourteen, a mere slip of a girl, and I knew even then she would be an exceptional beauty. Even my father adored her before he passed. Not only is she lovely on the outside, but she is equally lovely on the inside. Not every woman can say that," he said pointedly.
It seemed that was enough to silence the eldest Miss Bennet, and Darcy was displeased to have had to defend his wife to this spiteful woman. “Elizabeth, your uncle asked me to bring you to him when we entered the room. I think your sister Mary is over there as well. Would you join me?” And with this, they nodded at Jane and left to find Mr. Phillips.
“That was badly done, Jane,” Charlotte hissed. She and Jane were not particularly close, largely due to the gossip Mrs. Bennet and her eldest daughter enjoyed spreading about CharlotteLucas and her status as a spinster. It did not matter that Charlotte’s unmarried state was more due to her intended passing away before they could wed than her somewhat plain appearance. For some reason, Mrs. Bennet preferred to focus on appearances rather than Charlotte’s many good qualities.
For instance, Charlotte Lucas did far more to assist the tenants at Longbourn than either Mrs. Bennet or Jane Bennet did, as well as assisting the poor in the parish. Lady Lucas may not have been born a gentlewoman, but neither had Mrs. Bennet. Instead, it was Lady Lucas who had taken the lead in the community providing aiding those who needed it.
“What would you know, Charlotte Lucas? You are a spinster and will remain in this insignificant town your entire life. Now that Lizzy has managed to marry so well, I will go to London and be introduced to wealthy and handsome young men. It will not be long before I am wed and far higher than you could ever aspire to.”
“Who will take you to London, Jane?” Elizabeth asked, having returned when she saw Charlotte speaking to Jane. “For it will not be me, not when you seek to insult me and attempt to flirt with my husband. I expected better of you, Jane, though perhaps I should not have. I still recall how you treated me and my aunt and uncle the one time you visited.”
“Mama will make you take me in,” Jane retorted.
Elizabeth laughed at this. “The woman you call Mama is no mother to me. The only mother I have had in more than a decade is Mrs. Gardiner. If you think I would do anything because Mrs. Bennet demands it of me, you are sorely mistaken. Given what she must have told you, I am certain you now think that you are so beautiful that no man would reject you. Let meassure you that is not the case. I have met many gentlemen and ladies in town, and Jane, you would scarcely stand out among them. Moreover, many men seek to marry a lady with some wealth of her own, and short of that, one who has something to recommend her beyond her looks. Few men would marry a woman for beauty alone despite what your mother has told you. No, they will seek a woman who can benefit them in some way, and you, dear sister, have nothing to offer. You seem to be as spiteful and rude as many of the so-called ladies I have encountered in theton, but that is not enough to recommend you.”
Jane had no response to that, but tears formed in her eyes. Elizabeth and Charlotte shared a look, each assuring the other that there was no real cause for concern, and together, they strode off toward the other side of the room. They did watch, however, as a seething Jane moved toward the exit, and soon they heard a carriage departing, likely carrying her away from Lucas Lodge and toward home.
Elizabeth patted Mary’s hand. “Mary, Fitzwilliam and I will assure you are taken home this evening. It is best if you wait a bit, although Jane will surely tell her mother what I have said. I am sorry if things will be difficult for you as a result.”
“It will likely be little different than any other evening. I am typically ignored, and I am uncertain if they will even notice I did not return home. Mrs. Hill will of course, but Mama and Jane are unlikely to do anything tonight other than to commiserate with each other over you foiling their plans.”
“Mary, I do hope you will find a way to write to me or to escape from Longbourn. I would like to get to know you as a sister. Perhaps Mr. Phillips can send and receive letters on your behalf.Or even the rector? I recall a little of Mr. Allen from before; is he still the rector of the Meryton church?”
“He is,” Mary told her. “And I will ask Uncle Phillips first if he can help me correspond with you. I recall a few arguments in the years after you left about letters arriving from you and do not think that Mama would allow me to keep any letters you sent me. She would expect me to ask you for clothing and expensive trinkets, as well as to take all my sisters under your wing and take us to town.”
“Mary, I must tell you that Mrs. Bennet will receive nothing from me, nor will I give in to any demands she may attempt to place on me. She had me sent away from my home at the age of eight, and up until the day she demanded I return home to marry a man twice my age, she has ignored me entirely. If she wishes to apologise for her behaviour, I will listen, but it will take time before I am willing to have anything to do with her or Mr. Bennet. The same goes for my sisters, Mary. I will gladly correspond with you and any of my sisters who desire it, but it will take time to build a relationship.”
“I do understand, Lizzy, or would you prefer I call you Elizabeth, or even Mrs. Darcy? I have not seen you in many years and am uncertain if you will welcome the intimacy of sisters.”
“I have not been ‘Lizzy’ since I left Longbourn. The Gardiners and William use my Christian name since I wanted to forget any reminders of that time. The nickname ‘Lizzy’ was one of those things that we changed first, that and my surname. Before I became a Darcy, I was a Gardiner, not a Bennet. It may sound terrible of me, but when my father agreed to disown me because he would not stand up to his wife about her treatment of me, I wanted nothing to do with the name Bennet.”
“I do not know if others in my family would understand, but I think I can. I recall little of how Mama treated you, but after you left, I became the one she complained about. Jane and Lydia are her favourites—Jane for her beauty and Lydia for her liveliness. At thirteen, Lydia is quite spoilt, and Kitty follows her. I am largely ignored, but occasionally she will blame me for something that is wrong,” Mary admitted.
Elizabeth frowned at that. “I am sorry, Mary. I know there is little I could have done, but I do hate that my being forced to leave made life more difficult for you.” She took several minutes to look at her sister. “Do Kitty and Lydia favour Jane? You and I have the darker hair and eyes of our grandmother. It was a frequent complaint I heard as a child. Mrs. Bennet preferred the girls who looked like her.”
This caused Mary to flush. “They do. I have been compared unfavourably to my sisters all my life. Kitty favours our mother though not as much as the other two. She gains attention mostly because she follows Lydia’s example. Fortunately, they are too young to be much in company at present, but they are wild and unchecked already. I worry about them.”
Mrs. Phillips reached them before anyone could speak further. “Jane left in the Bennet carriage a few minutes ago, Mary. Why did you not accompany your sister?”
“She grew angry with Elizabeth’s reluctance to agree to Mrs. Bennet’s demands that she take Jane to London immediately and left. I do not think she remembered that I was here with her,” Mary said.
Mrs. Philips looked at her niece. “My sister has already demanded that you take Jane to London? I did not think today’s meeting went well. Mr. Bennet met with my husband earlier,and they spoke of the marriage contract that was signed. He was a fool to sign the document without bringing it to my husband to review, but my sister was insistent that it was the only way to save the family. I do not think either of them read the document all the way through.”
“You are correct that our meeting did not go well. They seemed to think that I would set aside my legal marriage so I could marry Longbourn’s heir, and, naturally, I refused. Jane approached me this evening to tell me that Mrs. Bennet will demand I take my sisters to London to introduce them to wealthy men, also implying I won my husband by compromising him. She flirted with him right in front of me; I assume because she believes she can win him away from me. I informed her that none of those things would happen, and she grew angry with me.”
Mrs. Phillips took a minute to allow the information to sink in. “Oh,” she said after a moment, needing to absorb all the information that had been shared with her. “I believe my husband spoke to yours about what the Bennets have done, and I am certain they will soon realise they have made a mess of matters. Of course, my sister will be reluctant to admit it, and I worry about what she might scheme next. Come with me, Mary, I will ensure you arrive safely home tonight.”
And with that, the older lady took Mary by the arm and led her to gather her husband before directing them all toward their hosts for the evening. The three departed, followed not long after by the Darcys themselves.
Chapter Twenty-Two
As Darcy waited for his wife to prepare herself for bed and join him in their chamber, he thought over what he had learned that day.
The confrontation with the Bennets had been unpleasant, but not unexpected. He knew from the letter his wife’s uncle had shown him that the family expected Elizabeth to essentially sacrifice herself on the family’s behalf, and they had guessed marriage was intended to be the method. Elizabeth was likewise unaware of a second letter sent to Gardiner emphasising the importance of Elizabeth’s returning home. Darcy had wanted to share both letters with his wife, but Gardiner had been insistent he not do so.
Gardiner also told the younger man of the letters he had received through the years from Fanny Bennet. There were only a few, perhaps one or two a year, always making demands and speaking ill of the daughter she had cast aside. Neither his niece nor his wife was aware of these, and he doubted the lady’s husband was aware of them either, but he had kept them as proof of her hatred for her daughter.
